The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-07-16


 the gold-ribbed giants of the mighty Sierras; traversed for hundreds of miles by North Americas two great est rivers, the Mississippi and Mis- souri, and capable of yielding in ex- haustless profusion all the products of the temperate zone, the sun in heaven, in his grand rounds, never looked down upon more glorious realm.
 Here are homes for nations yet un- born, where all beauties and sublimi- ties of scene, all charms of climate and all riches of soil and mineral unite to form earth's grandest garden-spot. Here may one dwell on lake or mountain side, in fertile valley or on beautiful plain, iii land of meadows and fruit trees, of vineyards and golden grain; under the feet carpet of flowers, and the bluest of heavens bending above and resting it's arch on the walls of the forest. Is one a seeker for home? Here are millions on millions of acres of the modern paradise to be had for little more than the asking or the taking, Land Con- missioner William Andrew Jackson Sparks to the contrary notwithstand- ing. Does one ask for gold and silver? The greatest mines of earth are yet to be opened in this imperial realm, or on it's confines. Here moun- tains of golden and silvern ore, beside which all the famed riches of the Comstock lode will some day sink to beggars' pence, yet rear their proud heads to heaven, untouched by pick or spade. The veritable treasure houses of the gods are not yet all unlocked: the surface dirt of the bonanza possi- bilities of the future is hardly broken. Is one lover of the sublime and beautiful in natural scenery? The weird wonders of the Yellowstone and the Colorado, the canyons and peaks of the Rocky mountains and the milder glories of Wisconsin, Minne- sota and Dakota lakes and dells, for ests, streams and cataracts afford an ever-changing and always transport ing feast to eye and soul It is a realm of mountains and waterfalls, of cloud-wreathed crags, awful chasms boundless plains, gigantic floods and yaWning caverns, transcendent dis play of all that is most enchanting in Natures handiwork, hushing the proudest landscape boasts of all the rest of creation, and defying all human genius, with pen or brush or pencil, to depict it's grandeur and its loveliness. Contemplating it, the tourist with soul may well exclaim "where could our hearts with more rever What temple more grand than encircles us Whose roof is the heavens whose floor is the
 sod,
 Whose walls are the mountains, whose builder
 Is God?'
 Among all the great political di- visions of this magnificent region, H. linois stands easily first. It takes its name from the Indian word Winf, signifying Superior Men," or "Land of the Best Men," It's first white set clement was made by the French under La Sale in 1879. It afterward became British possession, and was wrested from King George ill 177S by Virginia troops under Colonel George Rogers Clark. It was made a terri tory in 1909, with about 5000 inhab- itants. It was admitted into the Union as state in 1918, with a pop ulation of 45,00o. In 1920 it had 55,211 people; in 1850, S51 1,470; in 1870, 2,539, ,S91; and 3,077,771 in 1880. Its population is doubtless fully 3,5OO,- 900. Illinois has an area of 55,414 square miles, or 35,465,093 acres, ninety per cent. of which is tillable land, consisting of prairie and timber beautifully intermingled, and watered by innumerable lakes and streams. It has 1900 miles of navigable rivers, and its northern frontier is washed by Lake Michigan. Its climate is health ful and invigorating. It has 45,00o square miles of coal lands. Every branch of manufacturing is carried on, and stock raising is an extensive and profitable industry. Illinois is the first state in the Union in the production of wheat, corn and oats. distilled liquors, dressed lumber and packed provisions; second in live stock. third in coal, being surpassed only by Pennsylvania and Ohio; third in rye; and sixth in value of manufactures and capital employed. Its railroad system is the finest in the Union. Re- ligious, educational and charitable in- stitutions of every kind abound and are liberally supported. Half its hundred and two county seats are cities of commercial and financial inn portance. Chicago, its metropolis, is the fourth city in the Union in popu- lation, the second in commerce and the first in energy, enterprise, cheek and promise for the future. Nowhere on earth do the labors of the husband man yield richer returns than in this state. Illinois farmers are universally thrifty and independent. A large